BERTHOUD – An overwhelming majority of Larimer and Weld county residents support the Northern Integrated Supply Project, which includes the proposed Glade Reservoir northwest of Fort Collins.

That is according to results released Sept. 12, 2008, of a survey conducted by notable pollster Floyd Ciruli. Ciruli conducted the survey on behalf of the 15 water providers who are participating in NISP.

The survey’s findings include:

• 63 percent of Larimer County residents and 81 percent of Weld County residents support NISP
• By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, Fort Collins residents support NISP
• 65 percent of Larimer County residents and 75 percent of Weld County residents believe northern Colorado needs more water storage
• 93 percent of Larimer County residents and 98 percent of Weld County residents agree that maintaining agricultural open space and the farm economy is important to our area.  They do not support the dry up of agriculture to provide water to cities
• 73 percent of Larimer County residents and 82 percent of Weld County residents agree with the cooperative regional approach to water-supply planning that NISP employs
• 71 percent of Larimer County residents and 85 percent of Weld County residents agree that Glade Reservoir is good for protecting the area against future droughts, and 40 percent indicate they will use the reservoir for recreation
• 70 percent of Larimer County residents are sympathetic toward and/or active in the environmental movement, yet fewer than one-fourth of Larimer County residents oppose NISP
• 73 percent of Larimer County residents and 87 percent of Weld County residents believe water conservation is important but that it alone cannot provide sufficient water for future growth and recurring droughts and that more water storage is needed

Research design:

•         Conducted by: Ciruli Associates

•         Sample: Random samples of active Larimer and Weld counties’ registered voters

•         Sample size: Larimer: 500, Weld: 300.

•         Margin of Error:  Larimer: ±4.4 percentage points, Weld: ±5.7 percentage points

•         Date in Field:  Larimer: August 8-11, 2008; Weld: August 11-14, 2008

  BELOW: Click on the photo and participant map for larger images. Video is 1 min. 45 sec.

 Click here to listen to Floyd Ciruli talk about the survey on 600 KCOL News Radio's Keith and Gail Morning Show on 9-17-08.

“This survey verifies northern Colorado residents understand the need to manage our limited available water resources and confirms our long-standing belief that there is broad-based support for NISP.

“People recognize the role of water conservation and reservoir storage when providing drought protection and adequate future water supplies. It is interesting to note that protecting local water supplies and our highly productive irrigated agriculture industry is a high priority for a large percentage of those surveyed.”

–  Eric Wilkinson, General Manager, Northern Water

“It’s reassuring to know that the public still understands we must store water in this arid state if we want to sustain the quality of life we’ve all come to enjoy. This project will certainly help take the pressure off the transfer of agricultural water to other uses.”

-- Don Ament, former Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture

Documents:

Summary of survey results
Full survey results
PowerPoint presentation about results